FSU Flying High Circus in Tallahassee, Florida

The FSU Flying High Circus is a three-ring student circus run by the Florida State University Division of Student Affairs on the Tallahassee campus.

The circus says it was founded in 1947 by Jack Haskin, that the only requirement for membership is being a degree-seeking student registered at Florida State University, and that every performer must audition at the start of the fall semester. The show is primarily an aerial and stage presentation with no animal acts. Students rig their own equipment, sew their own costumes, produce the lights and sound and set up the Big Top tent on campus, and 18 to 22 acts are taught on the ground or in the air.

No circus background is needed. The join page states that there is no experience necessary and that most new students arrive with no previous circus experience; the audition has two rounds, and an aerial act requires at least five pull ups, five leg lifts and five inverted pikes or L's. FSU News described a cast of 100 student volunteers and staff in May 2024 and called the program the only collegiate circus in the United States with a big top tent since the mid-1960s. The circus is based at 269 Chieftan Way, phone (850) 644-4874, and its home page says the 2026-27 school year is its 80th.

The circus started in 1947, the same year Florida State College for Women became the coeducational Florida State University.

The Florida State University history page records that on May 15, 1947, the Governor signed an act of the Legislature returning the college to coeducational status and naming it The Florida State University. That year the student body, numbering 4,056, chose a new alma mater and selected the Seminole as its athletics symbol; the page adds that the Flying High Circus was born, and that football returned with the first home game since 1905, played in October.

The two changes were linked. The circus states that the program was created when FSU became a coed institution, as an activity for students to take part in jointly, and that it still serves that role. FSU News called it one of the first ways of integrating men and women after Florida State became coed.

The FSU circus built its name on the road, with appearances it lists in Europe, Canada, the Bahamas and the West Indies.

The About Us page lists honors as well. The Southeast Tourism Society selected the circus as one of its Top 20 Events for 1989, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000, and it was the subject of a CSTV documentary, Flying High: the Florida State University Circus. A City of Tallahassee proclamation quoted there states that each year the circus produces a championship show, and the State of Florida presented a concurrent resolution in 1973 to commend it for captivating audiences the world over.

The same page records that in late 1981 a longtime circus owner donated the Clyde Beatty Cole Bros. Circus to Florida State University, citing the university's long circus tradition. The FSU program stayed a student activity: the circus states that most performers go on to careers in the fields they study, and only a small percentage seek a professional circus career.

Three tornadoes that crossed Tallahassee in less than 30 minutes on May 10, 2024, destroyed the circus tent, its steel structures, its seating and the equipment under it, FSU News reported.

Rebuilding took 10.5 months, FSU News reported on May 9, 2025. Everything had to be replaced, down to the concrete foundation. The new tent, designed by Canobbio, a textile architecture company in Italy, arrived by cargo ship on March 20, 2025, and student performers in hard hats helped install its poles and fabric. The garnet exterior gave way to gold and cream to keep the tent cooler, with more ventilation at the top and larger exits and openings to stop the leaks that plagued the old tent. The same report notes that big top fabric typically lasts around 10 years.

Source: FSU News, May 9, 2025. The same report counted more than $83,000 raised through ongoing fundraising plus $15,000 from that year's FSU Great Give, and said the new layout can hold nearly 100 student performers at a time, against about 30 in the old tent.

The FSU Circus fall 2026 Halloween series plays October 23, 24, 29 and 30 at 7 p.m., and the spring 2027 series runs from April 2 to April 17, 2027.

Source: FSU Circus performances page, which notes that gates open one hour before showtime, that a Family Weekend performance is held for FSU families, and that all sales, including tickets, concessions and merchandise, are cashless. The first full show in the new tent was the 15th annual Halloween series in October 2025, its first full production since April 2024, FSU News reported; admission that season was free for students with an FSU ID, and only clear bags were allowed in the tent.

The FSU Circus Camp is set to return in 2027 for children ages 7 to 17, in week-long sessions from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday; session dates and fees were still to be announced. Counselors are current FSU Circus performers, three full-time professional staff supervise, and a camper showcase is held on Fridays at 2 p.m. The circus pays much of its own way through home shows and camp, and its support page describes 'Stake' Holders, a new monthly giving program.

Last verified: October 18, 2026, by re-reading the circus's About Us, Join, Performances, Summer Camp and Support pages, the FSU history page and three Florida State University News reports on the tornado and rebuild.